The Masquerade (AnShi/ShivIka FF)- Epilogue UPDATED (Pg 130){COMPLETE} - Page 48

Seated at his work desk, Omkara looked at the clock ticking away on his bedside table. He had a book open before him but not a word had he read for the past half hour. Shivay had not yet returned from wherever he had rushed off to. Outside, the storm was quietening down. The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle.

Rudra entered bearing a tray with three steaming mugs.
"O, masala chai aa gaya!" he said carefully placing the tray amidst the paintbrushes, paints and paint-splattered rags littering the study table.

Om picked up a cup and studied the steam rising.

"Rudra, bring me my phone" he said, thoughtfully.
"O, mein kitchen se yahan tak yeh tray le aaya hoon! Ab aur nahi.. Apna kaam khud karna sikho!"

"Shut up Rudra! Get me the phone. Shivay ko call karna hai."

Rudra started hunting around among the pillows. 'O, seriously, you call me disorganized! Now where have you buried it?" He kept up a steady stream of complaints as he threw pillows around.

"It's near the headboard"said Om just as Rudra held up the phone in delight. "Got it!"

"Good." Said Om as he surveyed the state of his bed. Half the pillows now lay on the floor and the bed itself bore the signs of a wild Rudra passing through it. He turned to his brother, "Call Shivay now."

"Un hunh, let's see." Rudra scrolled through the list of contacts. "O, why do you still have that Bela woman's number saved in your phone?"

Snatching away the phone from Rudra, Om glared at him before dialling Shivay's number. The phone rang for a while. He was about to hang up when he heard the familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

Shivay was someone who always knew when one of his brothers called him. He never answered the phone saying 'hello'. Instead he would launch into the conversation right away. Hearing a 'hello' instead of the usual 'Bataa Om' startled him for a second.

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Anika turned away as she heard him fumble with the phone before saying, "Hello". She could still feel his kisses on her neck, her lips. She could still taste him and the feel of his warm hands running across her back still lingered on her skin. She tried to calm her shallow breathing as his voice floated across the room. She couldn't quite make sense of what had happened just now. He had kissed her again? At the club, when he had stolen her first kiss, she had reacted in shock. But this time, she didn't know what made her meet him with such wantonness. A wantonness she did not know even existed within her! Her eyes turned involuntarily towards him and she took in the state of his shirt, all bunched up with the collar in disarray. Had she done that to him? She turned away with a jerk. As she tried in vain to steady herself, she heard his rushed speech over the phone. He was trying to appear the same. But she had never heard him speak thus. Stumbling over words,repeating the same thing more than once. This was a man who seemed to be as affected as she was.

Shivay's feet carried him away from her as he explained to Om that he was stuck with some urgent work. Om sounded worried. In the background he could hear Rudra. He told them how there was a matter of great urgency that he had needed to see to and now the rain had delayed him. He would have liked to carry on speaking but Om hung up saying they'll talk once he returned. Once the call ended, he reluctantly glanced towards her. She stood where he'd left her, her face obscured by her hair. He had no explanation for what he had done. For the first time in his life, Shivay found himself in a situation that left him baffled. A sense of utter exhilaration had filled him as he had thoughtlessly reached out for her with such fierce abandonment. An abandonment that had then been met with an equal wildness from her. It had released something in him that was a complete revelation for him. He was no inexperienced teenager but she had made him feel an adolescent desperation that he had never experienced, didn't know he could feel. What made him do this? He had blamed the alcohol and the dancing for his indiscretion the last time. But what he had done today left him uncertain of his desires, of his motives.

Anika finally forced herself to turn towards him. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, into his eyes, so instead addressed one of his numerous shirt buttons.

"Aapka ab chalna chahiye. Paani ki wajah se seher mein raita pheylne se pehle aap ghar pohuch jaye toh accha hoga, na?"

She rattled off the short speech that she had been working on while he spoke on the phone. Yes, act like nothing happened. Like they were having just another regular argument when... when the phone rang. Her flushed face and hurried tone made the words sound strange and Shivay stared at this flustered woman who had just a moment ago...but he clamped down on those wayward thoughts that could only lead to trouble.

"Haan. Mujhey chalna chahiye. Toh kal milte hai."

This was the most polite they had ever been with each other. Shivay left in a rush. It was not until he had reached his house and been accosted by his two brothers that he remembered the reason that had taken him to her house. And Anika? The pages of the document lay forgotten on the living room floor as she made her way to her bed for a sleepless night.

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The first bleak rays of the morning sun entering her bedroom through the shuttered windows found Anika busy tidying up the wardrobe. Her and Saahil's clothes were placed in stacks on the bed, the few odd chairs and the table. As she placed the items back in neat piles, she gave a tired yawn. After tossing and turning in bed for a few hours, she had given up on sleep and instead decided to get some work done around the house. Work would drive away troublesome thoughts.

Dawn found Shivay lying awake with Om and Rudra deep in sleep beside him. His face looked tired and drawn as he stared at the ceiling, unblinkingly. The phone on his bedside table buzzed. He glanced at it and was about to ignore it when something made him reach out and pick the device up. It was the usual message from his fiance wishing him a good morning. He studied the picture of Tia for a few minutes before typing in a 'Good morning'. He sent it and then got up. He'd decided to go out for a quick run. It was the first time Shivay had bothered to reply to any such message from Tia. His reply was soon followed by several messages of endearment from her. But by then Shivay had left the room.

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"Anika, are you sure you want to keep that awful scarf wrapped around your neck?" Priyanka asked with concern.

"Prinku, kal raat woh baarish ke wajah se thoda sa --" Anika began trying to sound hoarse.

"Ohh, so do you want me to switch the AC off?" Prinku was nothing if not thoughtful to the needs of others.

It was a typical humid day after the stormy night and moreover with a scarf wrapped around her neck, Anika was having a difficult time of it as it was. She smiled wanly at her friend and said, "Haan, that would be better, I think." She coughed a bit for effect.

Just as she was turning back to her calculations, she heard someone walk in. It was Daadi but before she could relax, she saw that someone else accompanied the lady. With his grandmother, walked in Shivay Singh Oberoi. He was impeccably dressed as usual, with not a hair out of place. Daadi was speaking to him as she came towards Anika and Priyanka. Anika could barely look at him but a quick glance revealed that he wore the look of his usual air of haughtiness and supreme confidence. As he walked up she couldn't help but feel that that the calmness he carried with him was that of a shark fin circling around you in the gentle ocean waters

"Billu, tu Anika se woh saare cheques lekar thoda sign kar de. Payments kal tak ho jaane chahiye."

"Don't worry," he said.

Priyanka took Daadi aside to show her some of the designs she was selecting for the many events leading up to her brother's wedding as Shivay settled in the only other chair placed beside her and concentrated on the work awaiting him.

Anika steadfastly kept her eyes on the accounts until letters and alphabets swam before her eyes. Had she looked over at him, she would have had a difficult time figuring out what Shivay was thinking. His face was a mask of cool arrogance.

So busy they were in drowning themselves in their minor tasks that they didn't notice Daadi and Priyanka leave the room. As Shivay finished with the last cheque, he looked up and found himself once again alone with her.

Unknown to Anika, as she worked on the bills, she had been tugging at the scarf which was genuinely causing a lot of discomfort on such a sultry day. As a result it had slipped a bit, revealing the base of her neck and Shivay's eyes were infallibly drawn to the reddish spot nestling there in that hollow. He was not prepared for the flicker of excitement that charged through him at the mere sight of the bruise. He wanted to reach out and touch it, admire his handiwork, but down that path madness awaited him and he got up from his chair with a suddenness that made Anika look up. The scarf slipped further revealing scratches along her neck and Shivay gave a slight groan before reaching for her. Anika found herself enveloped in his embrace. His fingers traced the marks she had discovered that morning, that she had tried to hide from the world, from herself. And then his lips replaced the fingers and she could sense that fire that had enveloped her last night rise deep within her again.

"We must be sensible," she breathed out and felt himself suddenly grow very still.

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Note: This chapter would not have been written without you, ayeshachanna.

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